The comments below have not been moderated in advance and are not produced by The Local unless clearly stated.
Readers are responsible for the content of their own comments. Comments that breach our terms and conditions will be removed.

Apartment hunt rant

A broken system?

I'm sure that this is nothing new to the forum members - at least from what I've seen and heard since I got here.

I just need to vent a little here to empathetic ears - perhaps indulge in a bit of communal bitching. I find it amazing that a 29 year old professional with a fairly decent salary cannot find a decent lodging in Gothenburg. I'm sure that this will come off as being "first world problems" to some, and to those I would agree - but everything pales in comparison to something else I guess.

The stats on boplats.se alone are staggering - an average of 960 applications per apartment - I can only imagine what the selection process must be like - i.e. delete the first 97 % and you've still got a nice selection of applicants. My main issue with the boplats systems is exactly this process. How do they judge you as a suitable tenant? All one is permitted is to provide the briefest of personal summaries. I have had a 100% turn-down rate so far on 60+ apartments, with no indication on how to amend/improve my odds - simply a note stating:

"You are not among the applicants that will be invited to the exhibition of this apartment."

How can a system as broken as this exist and/or continue for much longer? I can't imagine that this system "worked" at an perceivable pace.

The advice I always get here is that you have to know someone to get into the market - is this how things typically work here, not just in housing?

100% turn-down rate for 60 applications? You must be doing it seriously wrong. I lived in two places in Göteborg and did not find it at all difficult to find suitable apartments, certainly easier than in Stockholm.

Why do you specifically limit yourself to boplats.se?

This sounds like those people that complain of 100% turn-down rate after sending out 300 job applications. Time to look in the mirror .

I'm sure that this is nothing new to the forum members - at least from what I've seen and heard since I got here. I just need to vent a little here to empathetic ears
... (show full quote)

I'm sure that this is nothing new to the forum members - at least from what I've seen and heard since I got here.

I just need to vent a little here to empathetic ears - perhaps indulge in a bit of communal bitching. I find it amazing that a 29 year old professional with a fairly decent salary cannot find a decent lodging in Gothenburg. I'm sure that this will come off as being "first world problems" to some, and to those I would agree - but everything pales in comparison to something else I guess.

The stats on boplats.se alone are staggering - an average of 960 applications per apartment - I can only imagine what the selection process must be like - i.e. delete the first 97 % and you've still got a nice selection of applicants. My main issue with the boplats systems is exactly this process. How do they judge you as a suitable tenant? All one is permitted is to provide the briefest of personal summaries. I have had a 100% turn-down rate so far on 60+ apartments, with no indication on how to amend/improve my odds - simply a note stating:

"You are not among the applicants that will be invited to the exhibition of this apartment."

How can a system as broken as this exist and/or continue for much longer? I can't imagine that this system "worked" at an perceivable pace.

The advice I always get here is that you have to know someone to get into the market - is this how things typically work here, not just in housing?
... (hide full quote)

The crackpot method GBG uses to distribute housing based on queuing rather than price or merit has driven me to moving to another country.

Fact is, unless you're in the queue and applying regularly for at least 18 months, you're gonna get placed in one of the hellholes like Hjällbo, Tynnered or Biskopsgarden. This is fine for the deadbeats which Sweden generally imports, but for young professionals, it's a nightmare.

100% turn-down rate for 60 applications? You must be doing it seriously wrong. I lived in two places in Göteborg and did not find it at all difficult to find suitable apartme
... (show full quote)

100% turn-down rate for 60 applications? You must be doing it seriously wrong. I lived in two places in Göteborg and did not find it at all difficult to find suitable apartments, certainly easier than in Stockholm.

Why do you specifically limit yourself to boplats.se?

This sounds like those people that complain of 100% turn-down rate after sending out 300 job applications. Time to look in the mirror .

While I see your point of view - these stats I gave are for boplats.se - one is limited to providing very few personal details - name, age, personenummer, salaryand a short 2-3 line summary about yourself/intentions and whether one is a student or not. My point is that the system on boplats, through which the majority of housing providers advertise, seems to be extremely inefficient in its purpose, and I wonder what the success rate for applicants is.

Furthermore, to counter the "look in the mirror" I have an advert on blocket.se where I have received several interested landlord apps, though they mostly seem to be short terms only.

Also, while I will take it on the chin that posting on an internet forum in such a manner as I have done would inevitably have drawn criticism about my personal character, I didn't think it would happen in the first reply and from someone who I would have hoped to have provided some insight/advice/commentary, rather than a jibe and a . My bad for being an optimist I guess.

The crackpot method GBG uses to distribute housing based on queuing rather than price or merit has driven me to moving to another country.Fact is, unless you're in the que
... (show full quote)

The crackpot method GBG uses to distribute housing based on queuing rather than price or merit has driven me to moving to another country.

Fact is, unless you're in the queue and applying regularly for at least 18 months, you're gonna get placed in one of the hellholes like Hjällbo, Tynnered or Biskopsgarden. This is fine for the deadbeats which Sweden generally imports, but for young professionals, it's a nightmare.
... (hide full quote)

Has it been your experience that this was just with boplats or the whole system in general?

Furthermore, to counter the "look in the mirror" I have an advert on blocket.se where I have received several interested landlord apps, though they mostly seem to be short terms only.

All right, here is some useful insight . Posting an advert on blocket.se is indeed the best thing to do. You already got a few replies - great - no need to look in the mirror. If you are in a hurry, take any of the short term options; if not, wait a little longer.

It is kind of obvious, but this has worked very well for me - posting an attractive and specifc ad about oneself on blocket.

Thank you PDX - I appreciate the confirmation/advice of the more successful tactic. Was your post in Swedish/English? Would your (or anyone else's for that matter) opinion be that this is in any way a hindrance? Just testing the water here with this one.

Also - did you have any similar issue with boplats or did you avoid it completely?

The crackpot method GBG uses to distribute housing based on queuing rather than price or merit has driven me to moving to another country.

Gothenburg does not have a queue system, the landlords put in requirements they have for tenants, and those are matched against registered users of Boplats. The landlord decides who is chosen to viewings etc...

It is Stockholm that runs a queue, and the landlords are presented a list of potential tenants sorted by longest in queue 1st.

Don't despair...just go elsewhere than Boplats. I know your pain, we didn't have a hope in hell's chance there either. Find fastigheter companies that allow you to register for their queues directly, such as Stena, Poseidon (Google 'em). We did this with Stena Fastigheter, actually got a viewing, were offered the apartment, took it. This took a week after 3 months of fruitless searching and not so much as a look in on Boplats. Think I saw a place on there once in Kållered with 4,000 applicants.

As mentioned, Blocket.se is another option. But I can recommend Stena. No problems so far.

Don't despair...just go elsewhere than Boplats. I know your pain, we didn't have a hope in hell's chance there either. Find fastigheter companies that allow you to
... (show full quote)

Don't despair...just go elsewhere than Boplats. I know your pain, we didn't have a hope in hell's chance there either. Find fastigheter companies that allow you to register for their queues directly, such as Stena, Poseidon (Google 'em). We did this with Stena Fastigheter, actually got a viewing, were offered the apartment, took it. This took a week after 3 months of fruitless searching and not so much as a look in on Boplats. Think I saw a place on there once in Kållered with 4,000 applicants.

As mentioned, Blocket.se is another option. But I can recommend Stena. No problems so far.
... (hide full quote)

Thanks for the tip with Stena - I wasn't aware of them. I had already done an extensive search of the fastigheter companies and they had all said to go through boplats for applications.

I have definitely found myself in the definition of insanity - repeating the same procedure but expecting a different outcome. If there really is such an overall bad experience with boplats, despite it being the one major source of accommodation, or at least the one that is recommended through the authorities, something should be done about it. The lack of transparency w.r.t. the selection process is particularly disturbing. Shame I can't vote here or speak to my local politician... Onward to nepotism I guess

Well I'll be honest, that's not a bad price if it gets results. I wonder how they'll amend it though.

Is it the case that the accommodation situation has made what would be otherwise an viable system turn out the way it is? If the boplats performance really is indicative of entire supply/demand situation, then perhaps the problem is more endemic than it may have appeared, to me at least.

PSD Media
PSD Media is marketing company that offers innovative solutions for online retailers. We provide modern solutions that help increase traffic and raise conversion. Visit our site at: psdmedia.se